Richard a



UNITED sTAipmsrArENr OFFICE.

RICHARD A. STRATTON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FOR POLISHING LEATHER;

Speccaton of Letters Patent No. 26,932, dated January 24, 1860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD A. STRAT- TON, of the city and county ofPhiladelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Leather- Polishing Machines; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had tothe accompanying drawing and to the letters ofreference marked thereon.

My invention consists in attaching the agate or other substance used ina leather polishing machine, to a vibrating arm which is so controlledby an eccentric operated by and moving simultaneously with the crankshaft through which the vibrating motionv is imparted to the said arm,that the agate may be depressed to the bed of the machine during theinward movement of the arm and raised from the bed during its outwardmovement as fully described hereafter, thereby dispensing with thejointed arm which is commonly used in leather polishing machines, andwhich owing to its liability to get out of order, is very uncertain inits action.

In order to enable others skilled in the art, to make and use myinvention, I will now proceed to describe its construction andoperation.

On reference to the accompanying drawing which forms a part of thisspecification, Figure I, is a vertical section of a leather polishingmachine, with my improvement. Fig. 2, the same with the working parts ina different position, and Fig. 3, a plan view.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

A and A are the two frames of the machine each having two projectingarms a, ZJ, secured to a suitable foundation plate w.

In the upper end of the projections a a of the two frames, turns a shaftB, to which is secured a cog wheel C gearing into a similar wheel D,which turns on a pin projecting from one of the frames, and which gearsinto a third wheel E of similar size, on the driving shaft G, whichturns at one end in one of the frames, and at the other end in astandard Y on the base fw. To this sha ft G is secured the crank wheel Hhaving near its edge a pin for receiving one end of the connecting rodI, the opposite end of which is jointed at z' z' to the vibrating arm J.An eye on the upper end of this arm embraces the eccentric K on theshaft B and the lower end of the arm is provided with a sliding bar Lfitted to guides m m, in which it may slide to an extent limitedby a.spring of proper rigidity, the usual polishing agate being attached tothe lower end of this bar.

rIhe projections .7) of the two frames support the bed M on which theleather to be polished is placed, the curve of the bed forming part of acircle, or approximating to a part of a circle of which the center ofthe shaft B is the center.

It will be observed that as the shaft is caused to revolve a vibratingmotion will be imparted to the arm J on the eccentric K and thatsimultaneously with this movement an upward and downward movementwill beimparted to the arm by means of the eccentric K. As the latter revolvesat the same speed as the crank wheel H, it will be evident that theeccentric may be so adjusted that during the inward movement of thevibrating arm the agate on the bar L shall be in close contact with thebed M of the machine, and that during the outward movement of the armthe agate shall be elevated free from the bed to an extent which dependsupon the amount of the eccentricity of the eccentric.

As seen in Fig. l, for instance, the arm has been depressed by theturning of the eccentric, until the agate is in Contact with the outerend of the bed, the arm when in this position having commenced itsinward vibration. As the arm makes the latter movement the eccentricwill continue to turn downward and maintain the agate in contact withthe beduntil it reaches nearly t0 the end of the same. By this time thepin of the crank wheel, as it turns in the direction of the arrow, hasreached the position shown in Fig. the eccentric has been turned up soas to elevate the arm I and raise its agate from the bed in whichposition it is maintained during the outward vibration of the arm. Whenthe latter has reached the limit of its out "ard movement however, theeccentric will have been turned down to an extent sufficient to depressthe arm preparatory to a repetition of its inward movement with theagate in contact with the bed. As the arm moves inward the eccentricturns in the direction of this movement and consequently the agate willtraverse over the bed in a curve closely approximating to the part of acircle of which the shaft B is the center. When the arm has reached thelimit of its inward movement, and commenced its forward movement, theeccentric continuing to move in the same direction, which is contrary tothat of the arm, the agate will be suddenly raised from the bed therebyaording ample time for the attendant to alter the position of theleather.

The above described mode of lifting and depressing the vibrating armwith its agate will obviate the necessity of using the knee jointed armwhich is generally adopted in leather polishing machines, and which,owing to its liability to get out of order, is very uncertain in itsaction.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by'Letters Patent.

R. A. STRATTON.

Witnesses: Y

HENRY I-IoWsoN, CHARLES D. FREEMAN.

